Pizzas
When I order pizza, RK Narayan comes to mind. Tiffin, an engaging book by Rukmini Srinivas, contains an anecdote about Narayan. Narayan, who visited Rukmini and her husband, sociologist MN Srinivas, in the United States regularly, once told her about a pizza restaurant visit. The author, a vegetarian, thought the sliced cherry tomato topping was delicious. He’d taken an inadvertent bite out of a pepperoni pizza.
Pizzas have evolved over time. Slyce, a new pizza delivery service, serves delicious pepperoni pizza made with imported pork and a San Marzano (a plum tomato variety) sauce. There’s even a spicy version with jalapenos and green chilies for those who like their pizzas hot.
It’s hard to believe that there was a time when a pizza in Delhi meant a topping of sausages, capsicum, and onions. Over time, the varieties evolved: paneer became a must-have for vegetarians, and chefs began experimenting with corn and pineapple, or even butter chicken, as toppings.
Chefs have now pushed the envelope even further. Diggin, a popular restaurant chain, offers truffle oil and mushroom pizzas as well as country sausages. Pizzas with eggplant or pesto potatoes are available in the Nomad pizza – Traveller Series.
Slyce, which has locations throughout the Delhi NCR, has raised the stakes even higher. It offers, for example, an Italian Mob pizza with Spanish chorizo, bacon, sausages, and pork pepperoni. The toppings on the Art pizza include artichokes, onion, sautéed spinach, baby tomatoes, olives, roasted garlic, and feta cheese. The chicken preparations on the Quattro Pollo pizza are barbecued chicken, peri peri chicken, chicken chorizo, and butter-poached chicken. Many people love the Avocado Green Out pizza, which is topped with avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, jalapenos, olives, and Parmesan.
Another unique item is the Chicken Karaage pizza. Karaage is a Japanese method of deep frying flour-dusted chicken nuggets. The small chicken balls added a tasty crunch to the pizza. The Mushroom and Cream Cheese pizza is also delicious, with chives and shaved Parmesan flavoring the soft cheese and slightly crunchy mushroom.
Looking at the variety of vegetarian toppings available now, I feel sorry for Mr. Narayan. He would have loved an avocado or artichoke pizza, I’m sure!
